Syria and Hezbollah seize rebel stronghold

Syria’s army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah seized full control of the rebel bastion Yabrud yesterday, dealing the opposition a heavy symbolic and strategic blow in the Qalamoun region along the Lebanese border.

An AFP reporter entered the town after the army declared it had captured the opposition stronghold north of the capital. Syrian soldiers sat in the streets after seizing the town in fierce clashes with the support of battle-hardened fighters from Lebanon’s Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah and pro-regime militiamen.

“It was a very difficult battle, possibly the most difficult we have faced,” a soldier who identified himself as Abu Mohammed told AFP in Yabrud’s central square between puffs from a traditional water-pipe.

Earlier, the army announced it had “returned security and stability” to the town and its surroundings.

“This new success ... is an important step towards securing the border area with Lebanon, and cutting off the roads and tightening the noose around the remaining terrorist cells in Damascus province,” the military added. While scores of soldiers and fighters wearing different kinds of uniforms could be seen in Yabrud, not one civilian could be spotted anywhere.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on a network of contacts inside Syria, said Hezbollah had led the operation and “taken control of large parts of Yabrud”.

The Observatory and sources across the border in Lebanon reported multiple air raids, including with explosive-packed barrel bombs, on the area between Yabrud and the Lebanese town of Arsal.

The NGO said at least six people were killed in raids on the area, among them two children. Syrian state television said the army was targeting “groups of terrorists” fleeing Yabrud in the direction of Arsal.

The fall of Yabrud comes after months of Syrian army operations in the Qalamoun region. Late last year, the army captured a string of nearby towns before turning its sights to Yabrud.

The town was once home to 30,000 people, including a Christian minority, and had been a rebel bastion since early in the Syrian uprising that began in March 2011.

According to Abu Akram, a Syrian army soldier in Yabrud, the military now aims to take over Flita and Rankus, two rebel positions on the road to Lebanon.

Yabrud’s fall comes a day after the third anniversary of Syria’s conflict, which has killed more than 146,000 people.

The UN refugee agency says nine million Syrians have been forced from their homes, creating the world’s largest displaced population.